This invention relates generally to medical imaging systems and, more particularly, to devices that ergonomically maintain a stable patient position in medical imaging systems.
Nuclear cardiology scanning requires the patient to lie with his or her arms above his or her head so as to leave the torso clear for scanning and allow the detectors to get as close as possible to the heart. Holding this unnatural position for a long scanning time, for example, fifteen minutes or more, is difficult to impossible for most patients, in particular older patients with stiffness in the shoulder joint. Further, patients often have difficulty lowering the arms after the completion of the scan and suffer pain for several hours after scanning. Additionally, the positioning of a patient's legs during such scanning also is often uncomfortable and can, for example, place stress on a patient's back.